UPDATE: Detroit's Belle Isle Aquarium says tanks not vandalized

DETROIT — Officials from the Belle Isle Aquarium released a statement Saturday night denying earlier reports that up to 60 fish died after bleach was poured into tanks, allegedly as an act of vandalism.

Instead, fish died from sort of contamination of one of the aquarium's tanks. Vandalism is not suspected, according to an official statement.

"Dearest Friends, thank you for the outpouring of LOVE for the Aquarium!

We want to give you the facts as best we know them. We are thankful to advise that we do not believe that the loss of the fish in the first 4 tanks was due to vandalism. We believe that there was a tank dye off, something that is terribly unfortunate - but nonetheless happens even in the best of circumstances. It was inaccurately reported that 4 tanks were poisoned. Rather the 4 tanks are actually one large tank with 2 dividers that share the same water.

The loss is traumatic, and we appreciate the generous donations we have learned are being made. However, we do not want our friends to donate because they believe that we were vandalized. Our volunteers are highly dedicated but one acted upon emotion rather than the facts earlier today. While we are delighted to accept donations to help reopen the Aquarium on a regular basis, we do not want to do it by disingenuously pulling upon our friends' heart strings!

We are happy to report that we were able to revive our Oscar but did lose our Giant Gourami, Tilapia and Catfish. Loss of the Tilapia is ironic because they were rescued from a Korean fish market. This event will in no way halt our efforts, or cloud our mission to reopen the Belle Isle Aquarium for the enjoyment of all people.

MLive's original post:

Sixty fish were found dead in the Belle Isle Aquarium Saturday morning.

WWJ-AM and television stations WXYZ and WDIV report volunteers on Saturday morning found three tanks filled with the dead fish as well as a half-empty bottle of bleach. The fish were gourami, tilapia and catfish.

The aquarium planned to keep regular hours this weekend for the first time since closing in 2005.

Momentum had been building to reopen the aquarium in recent months. In February, thousands of people waited in line for a one-day reopening. This week, a gala fundraiser was held to permanently reopen the 107-year-old Albert Kahn building.

Budget concerns forced the City of Detroit to shutter the aquarium in 2005. But Friends of the Belle Isle Aquarium, a non-profit group that is merging with two others to become the Belle Isle Conservancy, has been maintaining the facility and raising funds in a concerted effort to reopen.

The act of vandalism is particularly deflating because Belle Isle is hosting the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix this weekend. The IndyCar race is bringing national attention to one of city's natural resource gems.

[&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://storify.com/mlive_detroit/vandals-kill-fish-at-belle-isle-aquarium-in-detroi" target="_blank"&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;View the story "Vandals kill fish at Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit" on Storify&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;]

The Associated Press and MLive reporter Jonathan Oosting contributed to this report.